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William J. Welch

Bio: William J. Welch is an academic researcher from University of British Columbia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Computer experiment & Statistical model. The author has an hindex of 29, co-authored 84 publications receiving 11771 citations. Previous affiliations of William J. Welch include Research Triangle Park & Imperial College London.


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TL;DR: This paper introduces the reader to a response surface methodology that is especially good at modeling the nonlinear, multimodal functions that often occur in engineering and shows how these approximating functions can be used to construct an efficient global optimization algorithm with a credible stopping rule.
Abstract: In many engineering optimization problems, the number of function evaluations is severely limited by time or cost. These problems pose a special challenge to the field of global optimization, since existing methods often require more function evaluations than can be comfortably afforded. One way to address this challenge is to fit response surfaces to data collected by evaluating the objective and constraint functions at a few points. These surfaces can then be used for visualization, tradeoff analysis, and optimization. In this paper, we introduce the reader to a response surface methodology that is especially good at modeling the nonlinear, multimodal functions that often occur in engineering. We then show how these approximating functions can be used to construct an efficient global optimization algorithm with a credible stopping rule. The key to using response surfaces for global optimization lies in balancing the need to exploit the approximating surface (by sampling where it is minimized) with the need to improve the approximation (by sampling where prediction error may be high). Striking this balance requires solving certain auxiliary problems which have previously been considered intractable, but we show how these computational obstacles can be overcome.

6,914 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The issues of choice of stochastic-process model and computation of efficient designs are addressed, and applications are made to some chemical kinetics problems.
Abstract: A computer experiment generates observations by running a computer model at inputs x and recording the output (response) Y. Prediction of the response Y to an untried input is treated by modeling the systematic departure of Y from a linear model as a realization of a stochastic process. For given data (selected inputs and the computed responses), best linear prediction is used. The design problem is to select the inputs to predict efficiently. The issues of choice of stochastic-process model and computation of efficient designs are addressed, and applications are made to some chemical kinetics problems.

906 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work model the output of the computer code as the realization of a stochastic process, allowing nonlinear and interaction effects to emerge without explicitly modeling such effects.
Abstract: Many scientific phenomena are now investigated by complex computer models or codes. Given the input values, the code produces one or more outputs via a complex mathematical model. Often the code is expensive to run, and it may be necessary to build a computationally cheaper predictor to enable, for example, optimization of the inputs. If there are many input factors, an initial step in building a predictor is identifying (screening) the active factors. We model the output of the computer code as the realization of a stochastic process. This model has a number of advantages. First, it provides a statistical basis, via the likelihood, for a stepwise algorithm to determine the important factors. Second, it is very flexible, allowing nonlinear and interaction effects to emerge without explicitly modeling such effects. Third, the same data are used for screening and building the predictor, so expensive runs are efficiently used. We illustrate the methodology with two examples, both having 20 input variables. I...

663 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A group of practitioners and researchers discuss the role of parameter design and Taguchi's methodology for implementing it and the importance of parameter-design principles with well-established statistical techniques.
Abstract: It is more than a decade since Genichi Taguchi's ideas on quality improvement were inrroduced in the United States. His parameter-design approach for reducing variation in products and processes has generated a great deal of interest among both quality practitioners and statisticians. The statistical techniques used by Taguchi to implement parameter design have been the subject of much debate, however, and there has been considerable research aimed at integrating the parameter-design principles with well-established statistical techniques. On the other hand, Taguchi and his colleagues feel that these research efforts by statisticians are misguided and reflect a lack of understanding of the engineering principles underlying Taguchi's methodology. This panel discussion provides a forum for a technical discussion of these diverse views. A group of practitioners and researchers discuss the role of parameter design and Taguchi's methodology for implementing it. The topics covered include the importance of vari...

654 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors quantify two key characteristics of computer codes that affect the sample size required for a desired level of accuracy when approximating the code via a Gaussian process (GP) and provide reasons and evidence supporting the informal rule that the number of runs for an effective initial computer experiment should be about 10 times the input dimension.
Abstract: We provide reasons and evidence supporting the informal rule that the number of runs for an effective initial computer experiment should be about 10 times the input dimension. Our arguments quantify two key characteristics of computer codes that affect the sample size required for a desired level of accuracy when approximating the code via a Gaussian process (GP). The first characteristic is the total sensitivity of a code output variable to all input variables; the second corresponds to the way this total sensitivity is distributed across the input variables, specifically the possible presence of a few prominent input factors and many impotent ones (i.e., effect sparsity). Both measures relate directly to the correlation structure in the GP approximation of the code. In this way, the article moves toward a more formal treatment of sample size for a computer experiment. The evidence supporting these arguments stems primarily from a simulation study and via specific codes modeling climate and ligand activa...

591 citations


Cited by
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Journal Article
TL;DR: This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for "experimenters") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment.
Abstract: THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

13,333 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper introduces the reader to a response surface methodology that is especially good at modeling the nonlinear, multimodal functions that often occur in engineering and shows how these approximating functions can be used to construct an efficient global optimization algorithm with a credible stopping rule.
Abstract: In many engineering optimization problems, the number of function evaluations is severely limited by time or cost. These problems pose a special challenge to the field of global optimization, since existing methods often require more function evaluations than can be comfortably afforded. One way to address this challenge is to fit response surfaces to data collected by evaluating the objective and constraint functions at a few points. These surfaces can then be used for visualization, tradeoff analysis, and optimization. In this paper, we introduce the reader to a response surface methodology that is especially good at modeling the nonlinear, multimodal functions that often occur in engineering. We then show how these approximating functions can be used to construct an efficient global optimization algorithm with a credible stopping rule. The key to using response surfaces for global optimization lies in balancing the need to exploit the approximating surface (by sampling where it is minimized) with the need to improve the approximation (by sampling where prediction error may be high). Striking this balance requires solving certain auxiliary problems which have previously been considered intractable, but we show how these computational obstacles can be overcome.

6,914 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper presents a meta-modelling framework for estimating Output from Computer Experiments-Predicting Output from Training Data and Criteria Based Designs for computer Experiments.
Abstract: Many scientific phenomena are now investigated by complex computer models or codes A computer experiment is a number of runs of the code with various inputs A feature of many computer experiments is that the output is deterministic--rerunning the code with the same inputs gives identical observations Often, the codes are computationally expensive to run, and a common objective of an experiment is to fit a cheaper predictor of the output to the data Our approach is to model the deterministic output as the realization of a stochastic process, thereby providing a statistical basis for designing experiments (choosing the inputs) for efficient prediction With this model, estimates of uncertainty of predictions are also available Recent work in this area is reviewed, a number of applications are discussed, and we demonstrate our methodology with an example

6,583 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

6,278 citations